Marshall says $2.5 million grant will fund forensic DNA capacity

Marshall University says its Forensic Science Center in Huntington received a $2.5 million U.S. Department of Justice grant to support forensic genetic-genealogy testing capacity in West Virginia.

The funding is intended to help the center’s Forensic Genomic Institute generate single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) DNA profiles for forensic investigative genetic genealogy, which combines genetic data with genealogy research to help identify unknown people in unsolved cases. Marshall says the institute will also provide testing and training and educate future forensic scientists. Its Oct. 5, 2026, announcement gives no project timetable, case-volume target or estimate of added testing capacity.

The center’s website reports testing 5,000 sexual-assault cases nationwide, including 2,500 or more for West Virginia. The page gives no reporting period or as-of date for either figure. The center describes its DNA laboratory as accredited and serving criminal-justice agencies in West Virginia and across the country.

A January 2026 Congressional Record listing and a Justice Department Office of Justice Programs page previously listed the project at $2.5 million. The department’s page identifies it as a project invited to apply. Marshall’s announcement is the source for the reported receipt of the grant.